New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine leads Republican challenger Christopher Christie for the first time
in their five-month slugfest, on top 43 - 38 percent among likely voters, according to a
Quinnipiac University poll released today. Independent candidate Christopher Daggett has 13
percent, with 5 percent undecided.

This compares to a 41 - 40 percent Christie lead, with 14 percent for Daggett, in an
October 14 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

Among Daggett supporters, 38 percent say they might change their mind: 43 percent say
Christie is their second choice, while 27 percent say Gov. Corzine is number two.

Only 12 percent of Christie voters and 19 percent of Corzine backers say they might
change their mind.

"You could see it coming. Gov. Jon Corzine's numbers crept steadily up and
Christopher Christie's steadily shrank and now, for the first time, we have Corzine ahead," said
Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"But don't be in a hurry to mark this election as over. Christopher Daggett changed it
from 'ABC' - Anybody But Corzine - to a real three-way scrap. But a lot of Daggett's voters
say they might change their minds by Election Day. Where will they go?"

New Jersey voters say 46 - 44 percent that Corzine is honest and trustworthy, his best
'honesty' score in months and the first time the score has been positive this year.

These same voters split on Christie, with 37 percent saying he is honest and trustworthy
and 39 percent saying he is not. This is Christie's worst score on this question.

Property taxes will go up if Corzine is elected, 60 percent of voters say, while 2 percent
say they will go down and 34 percent say they will stay the same.

If Christie is elected, property taxes will go up, 37 percent of voters say, while 12 percent
say they will go down and 44 percent say they will stay the same.

Of the 90 percent of New Jersey voters who have seen Corzine's TV ads:

14 percent say the ads make them more likely to vote for the Governor;

31 percent say less likely;

54 percent say the ads won't affect their vote;

66 percent find the ads annoying;

29 percent say the ads are informative.

Of the 86 percent of New Jersey voters who have seen Christie's TV ads:

17 percent say the ads make them more likely to vote for the challenger;

28 percent say less likely;

53 percent say the ads won't affect their vote;

58 percent find the ads annoying;

35 percent say the ads are informative.

"The drumbeat of denunciation has dropped Christie down to Corzine's negative level in
the favorable-unfavorable match. And it's produced a reversal on 'honest and trustworthy.'
Corzine comes out plus; Christie tips to a minus," Carroll said.

"Everyone says negative advertising is bad, but everybody watches it. Virtually every
New Jersey voter has seen the Corzine and Christie ads and most think that they're more
annoying than informative."

From October 20 - 26, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,267 New Jersey likely voters,
with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion
surveys in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and nationally as a public
service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on
Twitter.

1. If the election for governor were being held today, and the candidates were
Jon Corzine the Democrat, Christopher Christie the Republican, and Christopher
Daggett the independent, for whom would you vote? (If undecided q1) As of today,
do you lean more toward Corzine, Christie, or Daggett? This table includes
"Leaners".

TREND: If the election for governor were being held today, and the candidates
were Jon Corzine the Democrat, Christopher Christie the Republican, and
Christopher Daggett the independent, for whom would you vote? (If undecided) As
of today, do you lean more toward Corzine, Christie, or Daggett? This table
includes Leaners.